Crows show off a new trick

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New Caledonian crows, whose problem-solving skills have long set them apart from other avians, can even assemble tools out of available parts, a new study has found. Native to the South Pacific island after which they are named, the birds became famous for their cognitive abilities in 2002, when a captive crow gained access to a treat by creating a hook from a wire. In the new study, eight crows were presented with an assortment of different-length cylinders. Individually, these sticks were too small to reach food that had been hidden in a box. But four of the birds realized within five minutes how to put two rods together, creating a pole that let them push the treat out of an opening in the container’s side. One bird even constructed a four-rod pole—the first time an animal has been recorded making a tool with more than two components. “The finding is remarkable because the crows received no assistance or training in making these combinations,” author Auguste von Bayern, from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany, tells ScienceDaily.com. “They figured it out by themselves.” ■